Dr Sandeep Vohra, a psychiatrist and digital mental health expert, has unveiled India’s first patented emotional wellness screening tool the ‘Emotional Wellness Index (EWI)’. Developed over a decade of research in collaboration with Houston University, USA, the EWI is a 55-point digital screening scale designed to assess stress and emotional well-being in students and adults accurately.
Recent data indicate that over 35 per cent of Indian college students experience high stress or anxiety, highlighting the urgent need for proactive mental health interventions. The EWI enables mass screening on digital platforms, facilitates the early identification of emotional distress and promotes timely intervention, all while being cost-effective, confidential and stigma-free. It also provides data-driven insights that help shape mental health policies, wellness programmes and personalised care strategies.
Commenting on the launch, Dr Sandeep Vohra, Founder of NWNT.ai, said, “Mental health is no longer a silent struggle - it is a critical pillar of personal and societal well-being. With the Emotional Wellness Index, we aim to transform how emotional health is understood, assessed and addressed.” He also highlighted that the vision is to make emotional wellness accessible, affordable and stigma-free for everyone, reaching over 1 million people every month and ensuring that mental health is recognised not as a privilege, but as a universal right.
International universities like the University of California, San Diego, have successfully integrated emotional wellness screening with structured counselling programs to support at-risk students. In India, Dr Vohra and his team have partnered with Manav Rachna University to implement a similar model, beginning with comprehensive emotional well-being screening followed by ongoing support from on-campus counsellors.
Talking about EWI patent, Dr Taranjeet Duggal Dean School of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Sciences, said, “With over 35 per cent of Indian college students reporting high stress or anxiety, our partnership with Dr Vohra to introduce the Emotional Wellness Index at Manav Rachna University comes at a crucial time.” He even emphasised that scientifically validated tools allow us to assess emotional well-being at scale, identify early signs of distress and create a data-driven, compassionate campus culture where mental health is valued as deeply as academic excellence. |
